Jerry “The King” Lawler has competed in at least one wrestling match for 53 straight years.
Lawler can claim that distinction after working on an independent show on January 21 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The WWE Hall of Famer defeated the Beer City Bruiser at the event, titled Acts of War Games 2.
Source: eWrestlingNews
The WWE Royal Ruble 2023 PLE has broken the record for the live gate of any U.S.-based event that isn’t a WrestleMania.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that with a live gate of over $7 million, the show has beaten any non-Mania event in the U.S. and has surpassed most WrestleManias.
WWE was hoping that the gate would surpass $8 million, which would have seen the show surpass Clash at the Castle for the largest non-WrestleMania live gate in wrestling.
It was reported last November that the show had reached the highest live gate of any Royal Rumble event.
WWE is off to a strong start for next year’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view event as the company announced in a statement to Pwinsider that the event has broken the largest gate in the history of the event. The statement reads as follows,
“WWE Royal Rumble 2023 – slated for Saturday, January 28 – has broken the company’s record for largest gate in the event’s 36-year history.
Over the weekend, Royal Rumble surpassed the $5M mark and previous record holder from 2017 – the last time the event was held at San Antonio’s AlamoDome.
This carries a 2022 trend into 2023 where WWE set gate records for many of its events, including WrestleMania, Extreme Rules and Crown Jewel.”
The Observer adds that WWE is expected to announce an attendance figure in excess of 50,000 since they’ve already used that number on television.
Source: eWrestlingNews
Major League Wrestling has sent a cease and desist letter to WWE, according to Dave Meltzer.
The issue stemmed from WWE reaching out to several contracted MLW wrestlers to appear on the Raw 30th anniversary show this past Monday.
Meltzer said,
“One would think it would have been members of the Anoa’i and Fatu family for the planned family acknowledgment ceremony, which ended up falling through. MLW sources have said Court Bauer told the talent to have WWE reach out to them directly, and didn’t say he wouldn’t allow them to appear, just to go through him. They never did and the segment ended up being canceled for the reasons noted earlier. WWE didn’t respond to questions regarding the cease and desist or the claim.”
Source: eWrestlingNews
A lawsuit has been filed over the mask design used by AEW’s Luchasaurus.
On December 20, Composite Effects, LLC made a legal complaint against AEW and Austin Matelson (the real identity of Luchasurus), claiming that copyrighted material is being used for merchandise without the designer’s permission.
Composite Effects claims that it owns licensing and design rights for the mask, which AEW has overstepped by producing merchandise. They state the following,
“Matelson was entitled to use the mask in events as a wrestler, but neither he nor anyone acting on his behalf was entitled to create merchandise that incorporated the mask design.”
The lawsuit features various examples of AEW using the mask design for merchandise, including on t-shirts and for action figures.
Matelson worked with Composite Effects in late 2016 for a modified version of their ‘Viper Silicone Mask’ and a modified version was created in March 2019 to add horns.
Composite Effects claims it wrote messages in 2022 to AEW and Matelson asking them to stop using the design or come to a licensing agreement, but no deal was made.
The case is filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana, where Composite Effects is based.
Source: eWrestlingNews
MLW FUSION tonight at 8pm ET streaming worldwide on Pro Wrestling TV and Saturday 8pm ET nationwide on cable television on beIN SPORTS.
This week’s card:
AZTECA Lucha’s seemingly unstoppable World Featherweight Champion Taya Valkyrie puts the gold on the line against military veteran and fast rising featherweight contender Trish Adora!
Can Trish turn the division on its axis and unseat Cesar Duran’s prized luchadora, or will Taya Valkyrie knock off another top ranked featherweight and bring home the gold to AZTECA? Tune in and find out!
Jacob Fatu and the Samoan SWAT Team lay down the gauntlet on World Heavyweight Champion Alex Hammerstone and the rest of the MLW roster as they look to zero in on championship gold in the near future.
Richard Holliday speaks exclusively! TONIGHT.
“El Rudo De Las Chicas” Sam Adonis makes his MLW debut!
MLW camera’s travel to Japan as the record breaking 5-time Open The Freedom Gate Champion YAMATO competes in a DRAGONGATE ring.
Alex Kane drops big plans for 2023, but a vindictive Davey Boy Smith Jr and his cousins The Billington Bulldogs have quite the ultimatum for the disrespectful BOMAYE Fight Club captain and his team.
The stakes are high on an all-new IMPACT! this Thursday at 8/7c on AXS TV and 8:30pm ET on YouTube for IMPACT Insiders.
The day after Jay Briscoe’s tragic passing, AEW was denied the opportunity to present a tribute show on “AEW Dynamite,” reportedly due to restrictions put in place by Warner Bros Discovery. The network would not allow such an event to broadcast because of past homophobic Tweets by Briscoe, even though the late wrestler apologized and made every effort to repair the damage with the LGBTQ+ community. Despite this obstacle, AEW still filmed a memorial show for Briscoe under the ROH banner, the promotion in which he became a record-setting 13-time ROH World Tag Team Champion with his brother Mark. The emotional celebration of Briscoe’s life is now available to watch for free.
The “Jay Briscoe Tribute and Celebration of Life” video was uploaded to ROH’s YouTube channel earlier today. The event was also uploaded to ROH’s Honor Club streaming service. The show, which is just over three hours long, features several matches and some touching tributes from the AEW roster. Memorable bouts from the Briscoes’ career in ROH are also highlighted, including their battle with The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) at Final Battle 2006.
Earlier this week, Tony Khan revealed that WBD’s Briscoe-related restrictions had been lifted. As a result, Mark Briscoe would debut for AEW against Jay Lethal as a celebration of Jay’s birthday. That bout headlined “Dynamite” last night, and saw Mark pick up the victory after using Jay’s finishing move, the Jay Driller. The AEW roster came out on stage following the match as a “Jay Briscoe 1984-2023” graphic appeared on the screen.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Mark Briscoe made his AEW debut during Wednesday night’s “Dynamite” under the most heartbreaking of circumstances. Just over a week after Mark’s older brother Jay was killed in a multi-vehicle crash that claimed the life of another driver and left Jay’s daughters seriously injured, the younger Briscoe stepped inside an AEW ring for the first time on what would have been Jay’s 39th birthday.
Mark’s opponent in the main event of Wednesday’s “Dynamite” was another longtime Ring of Honor star, Jay Lethal. The closing moments of the match saw Mark drive Lethal through the timekeeper’s table with his signature Froggy Bow elbow drop from the top turnbuckle. Back in the ring, Mark used the J-Driller, his brother Jay’s finishing maneuver, to pin Lethal for the win.
After the match, Mark spoke into a ringside camera, telling Jay Briscoe’s children – Gracie, Jayleigh, and Gannon – he loves them and to “keep your heads up.” Mark then sent a message to his late brother, calling him by his real name, Jamin, and telling him he loves him.
As Mark saluted fans following his victory, many members of the AEW locker room and backstage crew, including Tony Khan, came out on the entrance stage to applaud both Mark and Jay Lethal.
The presentation of the main event was rich in ROH aesthetics, with the company’s broadcast team, Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman, joining Excalibur on commentary and longtime ROH ring announcer Bobby Cruise was on hand for the introductions. Earlier in the show, a video tribute to Jay Briscoe was shown, which you can see the extended cut below.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS and emanate from the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.
Last night, Tony Khan revealed that Warner Brothers Discovery had finally permitted Mark Briscoe to make his AEW debut. The 13-time Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champion will face Jay Lethal tonight on “AEW Dynamite” to “celebrate the life and legacy of the late great Jay Briscoe on his 39th birthday.” WBD had previously restricted the Briscoes from appearing for Khan’s promotion because of homophobic tweets made by Jay in 2013; he later apologized and made significant efforts to improve his relationship with the LGBTQ+ community. Because of the ban, AEW was unable to honor Jay — who tragically passed away on January 17 – last week on “Dynamite.” Instead, the company filmed a tribute show that will air on YouTube and WatchROH.com at a later date.
AEW announced that Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. is injured and will not be able to compete. There are no details on the injury.
As of this writing, AEW is advertising the following for tonight’s show:
Ring of Honor Hall of Famer Jay Briscoe (Jamin Pugh) passed away last week after being in a car accident.
Briscoe and the other driver, 27-year-old Lillyanne Ternahan, were pronounced dead at the scene after a head-on collision. Jay wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, but his kids were.
Delaware Online reports that a vigil and funeral services have been announced for Briscoe.
The vigil will be held tonight at 7 PM at Lee Elliott Worship Center, located on 17237 Phillips Hill Road in Laurel, DE. The funeral is slated for Sunday at Laurel High School gym, located at 1133 S. Central Ave in Laurel.
There will be visitation from 12 PM to 1 PM and the service begins immediately after. Rev. Tim Dukes will officiate. The service will be private.
Source: eWrestlingNews
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